Vancouver Whitecaps FC name Marc Dos Santos new head coach

Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced on Wednesday the appointment of Marc Dos Santos as the club’s head coach. Dos Santos has agreed to a three-year contract through 2021.

A native of Montréal, Quebec, Dos Santos brings over a decade’s worth of coaching experience at the professional and amateur levels, including successful stops in Portugal, Canada, Brazil, and the United States. As a head coach at the professional level, Dos Santos has made four championship final appearances, winning the 2009 USL First Division and the 2017 NASL Soccer Bowl.

Most recently, Dos Santos worked in MLS under Bob Bradley as an assistant coach in 2018, helping LAFC set an MLS record for most points earned by an expansion side in an inaugural season.

“Marc is a confident, driven leader who has proven himself as a winner at every level he has been tested,” said Whitecaps FC co-owner Jeff Mallett. “We were impressed by his ability to deliver a clear plan that optimizes all of our resources to measurably improve the club in critical areas. Bringing in Marc positions the club to meet our goals of competing regularly with the best in the league and to win trophies for Vancouver’s loyal supporters, starting first and foremost with the MLS Cup.”

Whitecaps FC head coach Marc Dos Santos

124W-81L-70D record as a head coach at the professional level in North America

Helped LAFC set an MLS record for most points earned by an expansion side in an inaugural season as an assistant coach in 2018

Won the 2009 USL First Division and 2017 NASL Soccer Bowl

Two-time NASL Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2017

Fluent in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish

“We are excited to welcome Marc Dos Santos to our club,” said Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi. “It’s not often that you find a coach who seeks out the unique learning opportunities and challenges that Marc has accumulated around the world. We believe that having Marc now in place as head coach, combined with the additional resources that we are putting into our scouting and recruitment department, will set up the club for consistent success.”

Dos Santos will manage the first-team roster, including player transactions, and will work closely with Academy technical director Craig Dalrymple, while reporting to vice president of soccer operations Greg Anderson.

“Whitecaps FC are a club with a rich history, from the NASL days, to CSL, USL and now in MLS,” said Dos Santos. “It’s a club with an incredible potential to grow and become an example for others. I believe in the structure the club has and in the passion of the people involved. I look forward to meeting with our supporters and listening to them, sharing in their dreams and ambitions. They are a very big part of what this club is all about, and together we will meet the challenge of becoming a championship calibre club.”

Dos Santos, 41, began his coaching education in Portugal after coming through the youth academy of SC Beira-Mar and playing in the Portuguese third and fourth tiers.